I “met” Joshua on the morning bus out to Aurora. I had been riding the bus for many months, and eventually began to recognize the regulars. Joshua particularly stuck out: he was blonde with a buzz cut, had glasses, always wore the same Avalanche jacket, and a contagious “Hi! How Are You?! GOOD Morning!!! Pretty good, thanks! It’s going pretty good. How are you?! Pretty good so far, thanks!” The repetitive nature of his morning greetings were almost ritualistic, entirely child-like, and it was apparent that he had been blessed with some sort of retardation, though even after seeing him every morning, it’s still difficult to know which sort. I liked Joshua enough, he was friendly, if nothing else. Sweet, warm-hearted, even if not the brightest man on our trip… Shortly after I started noticing Joshua, I began to notice the young woman whom he had taken a liking for.
She was in her mid-twenties, also blonde, slightly pretty, and I noticed that she began riding the bus regularly right around the same time as I started noticing Joshua. At first, she, like many other of the regulars, smiled uncomfortably at his greetings. After the second or third day, though, she began to smile more warmly. I think she realized the innocence behind Joshua’s boisterous greeting.
Not long after these early morning interactions began, it became more and more obvious how taken Joshua was with this young woman. He would pout if he didn’t get a seat right behind her. As people got off the bus, he would slowly move on the next seat available between where he was sitting and where she was sitting.
I liked her, too. She always smiled back and warmly thanked him. She was gentle, and kind. It was obvious to myself and probably the rest of us on the bus that she was being genuine, where so many others would have ignored him or shied away from Joshua only because he is slow. I began to look forward to their interactions. It filled my heart with warmth so see him give her his greatest smile and, “How’s it going?! Good Morning! Pretty good so far! Pretty good! Have a nice day!” and she would just smile, and warmly say, “Good morning, Joshua.”
This week was Halloween. As usual, Joshua and this young woman performed their morning ritual. But on this chilly morning, Joshua had a gift for her! “Would you like a piece of candy?” he begged of her. “Of course, thank you!” she replied. He handed her a candy Snickers square, the bite-sized ones he had been given at home. He had waited all day yesterday and all morning today to see her so he could give her a piece of candy. She took it in her hand, smiled, wrapped her fingers around it, and slid it into the pocket in her back pack. “Thank you,” he exclaimed. “Thank you for taking the candy.” His eyes were filled with water. In moments, though, he recovered himself, and sliding into the seat behind her he exclaimed “Happy Halloween!” She smiled and opened her book to read. “I hope you have a nice day! Pretty good so far! Have a great day! It’s been good. Thank you! Thank you! Happy Halloween, Pretty good so far!”
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